Sick Day
by Endless Song
Summary: Irvine is sick and miserable and wants someone to keep him company and nurse him back to health. Selphie's out of town so he goes to someone else to do her job.


Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII and their characters don't belong to me, sadly.

_Sniffle. Cough. Sniffle sniffle. Cough._

Every since he woke himself up coughing that morning, Irvine Kinneas had been following somewhat of that exact pattern of coughing and sniffling. One nostril felt like a leaky focet, while the other he couldn't breathe out of at all. As for his throat, it felt like it was on fire. Somehow, though he couldn't quite figure it out, he felt both hot and cold at the same time. He had, of course, picked the best time to get sick, as Selphie had left to visit friend's in Trabia a few days prior and wouldn't be back for another three days.

He felt miserable, as he walked through Balamb Garden in a fog. He wore his usual favorite outfit, with the addition to four scarves around his neck. Between the hat covering his head and the scarves, all you could see of his face was his eyes. He was feeling lonely and in a want for attention and care even more so on a normal day, and as he walked he thought desperately who to go to for it. Squall wasn't right at all, he'd just ignore Irvine as best as possible and give his usual "... Whatever..." when Irvine begged him to take care of him. Rinoa would probably accidentally poison him while trying to cure him, and he shuddered to think of Zell chasing him around with Lysol and yelling about germs in his perfectly clean room.

Then... it hit him. He knew _just_ the person. Slowly but surely, he made his way towards the library. Once there he grabbed a random book off the shelf and headed to the quiet corner where he knew he'd find the second best person (Selphie, of course, came in first) that could nurse him back to health.

He pulled out the chair across from Quistis, causing her to look up at him with a raised eyebrow. He simply tipped his hat at her as a greeting as he sat down and began reading. No other words were exchanged and the instructor went right back to grading a stack of papers she had with her.

Then… Irvine began to continue on in his coughing, sniffling and sneezing. This, Quistis made no note of having noticed, as she continued on with her work.. Irvine was on the third page of the most boring book he had ever read in his life and was really wishing his friend wasn't well trained in the ways of "ignore the cowboy". So, he would just have to get her attention by being a little louder.

_Coughcoughcoughcough. Snifflesniffle. Coughcough._

He looked up at the blonde, who simply paused for a second. Without even looking up, she went right back to what she was doing, causing Irvine to pout.

_COUGH. SNIFFLE. COUGH. SNIFFLESNIFFLE._

Quistis paused again, her eye right eye gave a small twitch, but still otherwise didn't make any note of her friend. This only made Irvine try harder to get her attention. He coughed and sniffed even louder than ever, and held his stomach while he did so. Someone from the other side of the library gave a loud "SHHHH", which he only ignored as he continued on.

"_Oh for heavens sake_" the blonde finally snapped, putting the pen she was using to grade with down heavily and standing up. Irvine grinned in a triumphant way before breaking into a real coughing fit. Quistis walked around to where the cowboy had been sitting and placed the back of her hand on his forehead, only to find it was quite hot. "Irvine, you're burning up! You should have told me, I thought you were just trying to get my attention." She walked around to gather up her things, "Come on, get up. I'll take you to the infirmary."

Irvine closed the book with a snap and jumped up from his chair, instantly regretted it as it only made him feel dizzy. Quistis rolled her eyes, and grabbed a hold of him before he could fall over. This only brought a grin to his face, "Thanks Quisty," he said as he hung on to her. Inside his head he imagined a happy little chocobo dance.

--

In the infirmary, Dr. Kadowaki checked over Irvine while Quistis stayed out of concern of her friend. Once done, Kadowaki turned to Quistis, "It seems Kinneas has a bit of a fever. He should be fine with a little rest and a bit of medicine I have for him." Both cowboy and instructor thanked Kadowaki, as she gave Irvine a small prescription. "If the fever hasn't gone down in twenty-four hours come back and I'll give you another check up," she said as the two prepared to leave the office.

As they left, even though he was no longer feeling quite as dizzy, he still felt the need to lean on Quistis for "support". Hey, what she didn't know didn't kill her. "I suppose you'd like me to take you to your room too?" she asked, with a raised eyebrow as they slowly walked towards the dorms. Irvine's eyes widened, "You can't mean to leave me alone, Quisty, do you? While a friend is sick and in need of care?" He gave a fake cough for good measure. The blonde woman rolled her eyes, "Kadowaki said you need rest, you don't need me for that." At her response, the cowboy coughed and sniffed a few more times to get his point across about just how miserable he really felt. "You can't really be that heartless, I'll be sad and lonely! And with Selphie so far away there's no one to take care of me! I'll get so sick that I'll die!" He fake swooned, causing him to lean heavier on Quistis.

"Ugh, you're heavy. Fine, I'll take care of you for the night," she finally gave in. The happy chocobo dance came back to Irvine's thoughts, along with one of Selphie's 'Woo hoo's. As they got to Irvine's dorm room, Quistis spoke again "Get what you need for the night and come to my dorm- don't give me that look Kinneas, I know very well that you can make it 5 feet down the hallway all by yourself." Once she walked off leaving Irvine to gather his things, she couldn't help but think she had gone temporarily insane. She had almost let no one in her room, not even Selphie who was one of her best friend's, and now she was going to let Irvine… _stay the night_. Whether he was sick or not, nothing good could ever come of it.

--

Five minutes later, there was a soft knock at Quistis's door. Before opening it, she gave a deep breath, as if doom were to fall upon her by letting such a creature into her room.. As expected, Irvine was standing there in his trademark cowboy hat. What she hadn't been expecting was the light blue footy pajamas with cowboy hats and lassoes printed on it, and in his arms was a little chocobo plushie. "Come in," she said, bringing a hand to her mouth to stifle a snort of laughter.

"Wooaaaah! This is nice!" Irvine looked around in shock at the instructor's dorm. The general set up like a cadet's room more than anything, the only difference was it was only for one person. Her front room had a couch and to his surprise an electric fireplace. One room he could see was a small kitchen setup, while the other he could just barely see through the half-opened door had a queen-sized bed. He also noticed she had a bathroom. The general furnishings of the dorm was clearly not by Balamb, but an elegant style that he would expect none other from his dear friend. "No wonder you wanted your job back so bad! This sure beats a SeeD's room!"

Quistis smiled, "Yes, I didn't like giving it up one bit when I lost my job as instructor. Now, lie down and rest like you're supposed to," she said motioning to the couch. It was already made up with an extra pillow and blankets. Irvine couldn't help but to pout at his friend, "What? You're not going to share your bed with me?" he asked teasingly, earning a roll of the blonde's eyes as she walked out of the room and into the kitchen. He thought about following her, until another fit of coughs came. Instead, he decided he'd be a good boy and do as she said. Just as he was getting snuggled up and comfortable, she came into the room with a hot bowl of soup.

"Oh Quisty, you're the best nurse I could ever ask for," he said as he grinned from ear to ear as he took the bowl. "Whatever you say Irvine," she said, rolling her eyes as she too sat down for a bowl of the soup. It was chicken-noodle and was perfectly warm and felt oh-so nice going down his sore throat. By the time he finished, he was feeling warm and tired. He snuggled into the blankets, and didn't even notice Quistis had left the room until she came back a few minutes later with a cool wash-cloth for his head. He smiled at her, "You really are a good nurse, Quistis. Thanks for taking care of me, I really appreciate it." She smiled back, "What are friend's for? You sleep, I'll be in my room doing the same if you need me."

The cowboy was asleep within seconds. Quistis couldn't help but to smile down at him. _Okay, so it wasn't so bad taking care of him after all._

--

It was in the middle of the night, when Quistis woke with a start. She couldn't figure out why at first, until she found the arms of the cowboy had snaked around her waist. _Why that…. I'll kill him! I knew he had something up his sleeve! I never should have trus...ted him._ She had rolled over to find Irvine sleeping peacefully, murming lightly in his sleep. His mermers were almost too light, but she just barely caught "love Sefie" in there somewhere. Quistis's features softened, she couldn't possibly wake her friend to pummel him while he looked so peaceful. If she knew Irvine like she thought he did, any ulterior motives he might have had, she would have known about them by now. _He must have gotten lonely sleeping alone, sick like that._ With a sigh, she lied back in bed and fell back to sleep.

--

The next morning, Quistis woke to found Irvine still sleeping beside her. Carefully, she placed a hand on his forehead, finding it didn't feel as hot as it had the night before. As the warmth of her hand disappeared, Irvine's eyes fluttered opened. It took him to second to register where he was, but when he did, a broad grin crossed his face. "I got to sleep in Instructor Trepe's bed. Wait till the Treppies find out. "

The look on Quistis's face was priceless as a well-earned thwack of a pillow was brought down on his head. "_You wouldn't…_" she said threateningly with a glare of her icy blue eyes . Irvine's response was a mischievous grin, followed by a laugh… and an "oof" as Quistis pushed him out of the bed and onto the floor. "See if I'm ever nice to you again," she stomped out of the room as the cowboy went right on laughing.


End file.
